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Tag Archives: CF-18

Canada’s military services can no longer defend the nation’s borders—much less its citizens. According to the new commander of the Royal Canadian Navy, Vice Adm. Ron Lloyd, Canada’s last destroyer, hmcs Athabaskan, will be retired from service in the spring of 2017, leaving the nation torely on its allies for defensefor at least the next seven years. Over the previous decades, Athabaskan and other similar vessels provided the capabilities of command and control for both the Royal Canadian Navy and the area air defense. By next spring, the Navy will be left with only 12 frigates, 12 coast defense vessels and 4 submarines. Canada will need to rely on the United States for its area air defense.

America has been lulled into a false sense of security and this article stands to prove it doesn’t care to do anything about it. The walls are down and the sword is coming.

Two Bear H bombers intrude into air defense zone

Two Russian nuclear-capable bombers intruded into the U.S. air defense zone near Alaska last week in the latest saber rattling by Moscow, defense officials said.

The Tu-95 Bear H bombers flew into the Alaska zone on April 22. But unlike most earlier incursions, no U.S. interceptor jets were dispatched to shadow them, said defense officials familiar with the latest U.S.-Russian aerial encounter.

Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a spokesman for the U.S. Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), declined to confirm the incursion. But he said no jets were dispatched last week to intercept intruding aircraft. Continue reading →

On Thursday, NATO fighter jets diverted a Russian IL-20 surveillance plane over the Baltic Sea near Latvia. Latvia’s army confirmed the incident on their Twitter account. Two Canadian RCAF CF-18 Hornets intercepted another IL-20 near Lithuania on Saturday.

NATO said these Russian planes do not use on-board transponders used for surveillance. The organization said the plans “pose a potential risk to civil aviation as civilian air traffic control cannot detect these aircraft or ensure there is no interference with civilian air traffic.” Continue reading →

Recent incursions into U.S. air defense zones by Russian nuclear bombers earlier this month were part of exercises that violated provisions of the 2010 New START treaty, according to U.S. officials.

The treaty requires Russia and the United States to provide 14-day advance notification of major strategic exercises involving nuclear bombers covered by the treaty, and to provide notice within 48 hours after the exercises end.

State Department and Pentagon officials said the Russians failed to provide the proper notification for large-scale exercises held in late June in the arctic.

During the exercises, two Tu-95MS Bear H bombers armed with cruise missiles flew into the 200-mile air defense zone near Alaska, prompting U.S. F-15 and Canadian CF-18 jets to intercept the bombers.

The exercises began June 18th, the same day President Obama met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Mexico at what was described as a politically tense meeting.